Meat + Poultry - October 2009 - 135

Clean sweep for labels
Demand for clean labels has moved beyond naturalproducts retailers and organic butchers to the conventional
grocery sector. As a result, national brands are moving
toward eliminating artificial ingredients, including
preservatives. One of the top-10 trends of 2009 according
to Mintel, Chicago, is "Pure simplicity: The rise of clean
labels." This refers to products exhibiting ingredient
statements featuring simple language easy for consumers
to understand - such as sugar and vinegar.
More than 70 percent of consumers currently monitor
food and beverage labels, according to the Natural
Marketing Institute, Harleysville, Pa. , half of consumers
base their food selections on the ingredient list, and about
half are also looking for a short list of ingredients.
Many consumers avoid meat products with artificial
preservatives on labels. Ingredients like sodium benzoate,
sorbates, nitrates, nitrites and sulfites increase shelf life
and provide protection from dangerous microbes, such as
Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli O157:H7 and Clostridium. Often,
however, these ingredients also carry the stigma of having
unappetizing "chemicals." In many cases, these ingredients
have been unfairly linked to various maladies, ranging from
ADD to allergies and even cancer.
In most cases, consumers realize the benefits of
incorporating ingredients in foods to prevent meat and
poultry products from spoiling too quickly and for keeping
them safe. NMI finds 37 percent of consumers' rate natural
preservatives as "beneficial." Fifty-five percent of the
segment NMI identifies as a "Natural Channel Shopper"
exhibit the highest willingness to pay a 5 percent premium
for a food product with natural preservatives vs. one with
artificial preservatives.
"U.S. Food Antimicrobials Market," a report from
Frost & Sullivan, San Antonio, Texas, notes: "Despite their
irrefutable role in ensuring food safety and extending shelf
life, the preference for natural antimicrobials over synthetic
preservatives is proving to be a significant challenge for
participants in the U.S. food antimicrobials market."

Clean label solution
What can meat scientists do to develop a clean-label
statement while formulating a safe product? Lincolnshire, Ill.based PURAC has developed a way to fight fire with fire-
microbially speaking-by fermenting corn or cane sugar with
specific selected cultures to produce a range of organic acid
salts and fermentation products with antimicrobial properties.
The company has developed new label-friendly products
that help extend shelf life and fight pathogenic and spoilage
organisms in a wide variety of meat and poultry products,
ranging from cured and uncured deli products and wholemuscle heat-and-eat meats to prepared entrées.The PuraQ™

Verdad family of ingredients carries simple label statements
like cultured (cane or corn) sugar and vinegar.
Products designed specifically for the meat industry
include:
r 1VSBQ™ Verdad NV10, which consists of cultured corn
sugar, has broad antimicrobial activity against spoilage
organisms in fresh meats and can be used to extend the shelf
life of fresh meat and poultry items. It also increases color
stability in meats.
r 1VSBQ™ Verdad NV15, which consists of cultured corn
sugar and vinegar, is effective against L. monocytogenes in cured
meats.
r1VSBQ™ Verdad NV55, the most powerful of our ferments,
consists of cultured sugar and vinegar, and is effective against
L. monocytogenes in uncured meats.
r1VSBQ Verdad NV10, NV15, and NV 55 also add value by
enhancing meat and savory flavors, and improve taste in the
finished product.
Other ingredients in the PuraQ line targeted for general
food applications include:
r1VSBQ™ Verdad RV70, which consists of cultured sugar, is
effective against gram-negative and positive pathogens, such
as Bacillus cereus and Salmonella enteritidis, in a variety of foods
in the 4.5 to 6.0 pH range.
r 1VSBQ™ Verdad RV75, which consists of cultured sugar,
is effective against spoilage organisms, including mold, yeast
and bacteria, in processed foods in the 4.5 to 6.0 pH range.
The PuraQ Verdad ingredients are the result of a
controlled process that creates effective fermentation
intermediates, such as organic acids, polysaccharides and
peptides. This composition allows the product developer
to add the functional benefits achieved by fermentation
without actually fermenting the food product itself. The
ingredients outperform standard food fermentation in terms
of protection due to their consistent composition, which is a
function of the fixed metabolic routes of the cultures. PuraQ
Verdad ingredients are standardized, so the final composition
isn't left to the vagaries of Mother Nature.

A word about labeling
The PuraQ Verdad line provides clean labels in USDAregulated products. Despite the natural pedigree of certain
ingredients, USDA has stringent rules for finished products.
The agency currently does not distinguish between a
natural antimicrobial and a chemical preservative, and
chemical preservatives are not allowed in "Natural Meat
products". Only a few, duel functional ingredients, which
may be added for flavor, are allowed.
However, due to the source and derivation of Verdad
ingredients, a claim of "no artificial ingredients" may be
possible on products using these clean-label ingredients if the
rest of the formula complies with the statement. In products
not regulated by USDA, FDA may allow products with
naturally derived antimicrobials to carry a "natural" label.
A special supplement to Meat&Poultry magazine

Meat + Poultry - October 2009

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